Apparatus for cementing strands of cords.



C. G.-HOOVER.

APPARATUS FOR CEMENTING STRANDS 0F CORUS. APPLlcAnoN msn Auazg. me.

Clair G Hoover @X3i/imm nUNiTiilio sTaTEs PATENT oEEioE.

CLAIR G. HOOVER, OF AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE GOODYEAR TIRE .& RUBBER COMPANY, OF AEON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO. A

APPARATUS FOR CEMENTING STRANDS OF COB/DS.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, CLAIR G. IIoovER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful I mprovement-s in Apparatus for Cementing Strands of Cords, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to an apparatus for applying liquid coatings to cords,

` and in particular relates to a ceinenting apparatus whereby the individual strands composing a cord ma be momentarily untwisted, coated and twisted again during the passage of the cord through the apparatus.

As a principal object of my invention, I contemplate the provision of means for leadying a continuous cord through a cement bath, and the provision of an instrument arranged or a continuous rotational, progressive movement along the cord, said instrument serving to untwist the cord while the latter is yet in the cement bath and to twist the several strands of the cord together after each strand' has been individually coated and dried, orcooled, as the case may be.

It is also an object of this invention to arrange spreader means for untwisting a cord within a. bath of liquid, with which it is desired to coat the separate strands of the cord, in combination with a drying means adapted to dry the coatings upon the strands as the latter emerge from the bath prior to l being retwisted into the cord form.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for movin the cords vertically through a cement bat and to provide .an untwist'ing and twisting device which is l rotationally progressive along the length of the cord and which is automatically actuable by weight means to 'perform its oiiices in the rocess of coating the cord.

'Ine above and additional objects of a similar nature, which will be hereinafter more specically treated, may be accomplished by such means as are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in the following specications and then more particularly pointed out in the claims which are appended hereto and form a part of this application. j A

With reference to the drawing, wherein there has been illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention as it is reduced to practice, the gure illustrates a vertical section taken through the coating apparatus comprehended by my invention.

Speciilcaton of Letters Patent. Patented De, 25, 1917, i. aplicasion sied August 28,1916. serial No. 117,223. f'

ally elastic material, does not effect a suiiicient penetration of the cord to provide a uniform coating for each of the separate strands composing the cords, I have had lrecourse to the method of momentarily untwisting the cord for the individual coating of each strand. l i

In carrying out my invention to attain the objects set forth in the foregoing, an open receptacle 5 of a suitable depth is filled with the rubber cement or other Huid 6 with which it is desired to coat the cord.

Upon bearings 7 carried in alinement on opposite sides of the tank, or receptacle 5,.is

sup orted a reel 8 whereon a quantity of cor 9 is wound. y A braking means 1s provided to secure an even unwinding of the cord reel.. This brake may consist of a flexi-l ble element 10 which supports a weight 11 and passes over the' wound up cord to a point of securement 12, which may be upon across bar 13 straddling the sides of the tank 5. It is', of course, understood that a hub and band brake for the end of the axle of reel 8 or any other equivalent means maybe substituted for the braking means herein shown. The cord 9 is taken o the reel and trained over a small pulley 14 suitably secured as at 15 to the bottom of the 'coating tank, being thus 'ven a preliminary exterior coating. It is then carried vertically through the liquid 6 and over a pulley 16 which may ybe mounted upon a shaft 17 having bearings 18 at the sides of .the tank.A From this last turning oint the cord is withdrawn :from the coating apparatus and Upon the cord portion between theypullleys 14 and 16 there is arranged the Agravitational spreader device 19 which consists cages consists of a pair of. plates 23 maincon .Wound up for subsequent use when desired.

tained in spaced relation by spindles 241. Projecting from the center rod 22 and immediately above the cage 20 are a numbenof spreader arms 25 making equal angles with each other and being equal to the number of strands composing the cord 9. Each of these arms is bifurcated at its outermost extremity in order to mount a pulley 26 over which a single strand of the cord 9 may be trained when the several cord strands are spread to suspend the device 19. A weight 27 is carried upon the center rod 22 to form the means of actuating the suspended spreader device.

In practice the end of the cord 9 is unraveled for a` considerable distance after it has been introduced into the lower cage 20 of the spreader through a. suitable aperture in the lowermost plate 23 of this cage. The raveled strands branch out from the cage center and are separately passed over their respective-spreader arm pulleys 26, to converge toward the center of the upper cage 21, at which point they are retwisted into their cord formation, the retwisted end of the cord being then carried through the apertured top plate 23 and over the upper pulley 16. `When a pull is then exert-ed upon the cord end in the direction of the arrow shown in the drawing, the spreader device 19 is lifted with the cord and then, owing` to the action of the weight 27, begins a rotationally-progressive movement downward along the cord, screw-fashion. This movement causes the untwisting of the cord within the cage 20 and also effects the retwisting of the cord within the cage 21, the separate strands being meanwhile independently coated during their upward passage through the liquid within the tank 5. A guide arm 28 is secured to the side of the tank and projects outwardly into the path of travel of the cord afterleaving the device 19, being apertured to permit the retwisted cord to pass therethrough. This guide ,arm also acts as a stop to prevent a swift pull upon the cord 9 from lifting the device 19 completely out of the coating liquid 6. ln actual use the pull upon the cord, which may be gained by winding the cord upon a reel (not shown) to the right of the figure, should be at such a rate and of such uniformity as to maintain the device 19 at substantially a. constant level .within the liquid 6.

Since it is imperative that the coated strands be at least partially dried before being nretwisted into the cord formation, l may resort to either the use of an elongated rod 22, whereby the cages 20 and 21 are spaced a sulicient distance to allow for the natural air drying of the strands, or to the use of an air blast produced by a fan such as is denoted by the numeral 29, having a casing, the spout 30 of which projects agences into close proximity to the cord to discharge a current of warm air thereagainst immedi. ately after their emersion from the coating liquid 6. p

It is known to me that Patents 874,287 and 85,219 to E. D. C. Bayne and L. A. Subers propose a method for momentarily untwistlng successive portions of a cord length in order to apply a coating independently to the component strands of the cord.

My present invention is, however, an improvement over the disclosures of these patents in a number of points. The Bayne and Subers device requires mechanical propulsion for their twisting and untwisting device which complicates their constructions and renders them more costly and less automatic than the weight operating means here in disclosed. vMoreover, their container 4 for the coating liquid must necessarily have lits bottom apertured to permit the passage of the cords therethrough which renders the cord passages liable both to blocking by hardened globules 0f the cement or to a leakage of the cement from its container. JA lso,

vthe cords are not, in the mentioned patents,

rotated in a surrounding body of cement which l have found to be advantageous for securing a full coating. Again' my invention is much more readily put into use since the individual strands do not have to be threaded through a number of apertures as is necessary in the devices of Bayne, et al. Simplicity, ease of operation, increased elliciency ofresults and cheapness are the advantages which render my invention an improvement over these patents.

What l claim is:

1. In a cord coating apparatus, a con-4 tainer for a bath of a coating liquid; means to move the cord through said bath and an instrument suspended by the cord for m0- mentarily resolving successive 'cord portions into theirstrand components forindividual coating within the bath.

2. In a cord coating apparatus, a container for a bath of a coating liquid; means for moving a cord through said bath and an instrument suspended upon the cord by the individual strands thereof for momentarily untwisting the strands of the cord within the bath and for simultaneously retwisting the strands of the preceding cord portion into a twisted cord formation upon emerson from the bath.

3. In a cord coating apparatus, a container for a bath of a coating liquid; means for passing a cord through said bath; and means gravitationally operable to resolve successive cord pontions continuously into their strand components while immersed within said bath.

4. ln a cord coating apparatus, ya container for a bath of a coating liquid; means for continuously passing a cord through said bath; and means suspended by the cord and capable of a continuous rotational and progressive movement therealong to untwist the strands of the cord within the bath to eX- pose them for individual coatings.

5. In a cord coating apparatus a container for a bath of a coating liqui means for continuously moving a cord through said bath and gravitationally operable means suspended by the cord and capable of a continuous rotational and progressive movement along the length of the cord to resolve the cord into its component strands within the bath, whereby each strand of the cord is eX- posed for an individual coating.

6. In a cord coating apparatus, a container for a bath of a coating liquid; means for continuously moving a cord through said bath; and means suspended by the cord and rotationally progressive therealong to untwist the strands of the cord within the bath and to retwist the strands into the cord formation exterior to the bath, after they have been individually coated and dried.

7. In a cord coating apparatus, a container for a bath of a coating liquid; means for moving the cord through said bath to exit therefrom in a substantially vertical part; and means for separating the strands of the cord while within the bath and for retwisting'them into the cord formation exterior to the bath, said means being suspended by the cor,d and being automatically operable upon the substantially vertical portion thereof.

8. In a cord coating apparatus a container for a bath of a coating liqui means for moving a cord through said bath; and

means adapted to be suspended by the strands of the cord when the latter are spread from the cord formation within the bath and subsequently retwisted in the'cord formation exterior to the bath, said means being gravitationally operable to maintain a rotational progressive movement along the cord in untwisting successive cord portions within the bath and continuously, retwisting them again into the cord formation eX- teriorly from the bath. y

9. In a cord coating apparatus, a container for a bath containing a coating iiuid; means for the passing of cord continuously through the bath and an untwisting device suspendedby said cord, said device including spreader arms arranged to engage a separate individual strand of the cord in order to expose each strand for an independent coating within said bath.

l0. Ina cord coating apparatus, a container for a bath containing a coating fluid; means for continuously passing a cord through the fluid of said bath; a spreading device suspended by the cord and including spaced upper and lower cages; spreader arms arranged adjacent to the lower cage to individually receive the separate strands of the cord branching out from the lower cage and to maintain them separate until within the upper cage, whereby the strands of the cord are independently coated.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

C. G. HOOVER.

` Witnesses:

H. J. GINTHER, C. V. P. NEWBoLD. 

